ETA
Entrepreneurship through acquisition in Germany
Entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) means becoming an entrepreneur by buying an existing company rather than founding one. In Germany the model has grown alongside the succession gap in the Mittelstand.
How the classic search fund works
- A searcher raises a small amount of capital to fund a 12–24 month search
- Investors get the right, not the obligation, to fund the eventual acquisition
- Once a target is found, capital is called deal-by-deal
- The searcher becomes CEO of the acquired company
Where sellers should look closely
In the classic model, financing is confirmed only after a target is agreed. For a seller that means real execution risk late in the process. Ask any buyer early and directly: is the capital committed today, or does it still need to be raised?
Generation Tech Partners operates with a committed EUR 60m fund. There is no capital call risk and no investor veto arriving in week twelve.
Where ETA and our model overlap
Both are built on the same insight: buying a profitable, unglamorous services business is a better risk-adjusted path than founding one. The difference is that we operate as an institutional buyer with three GPs and permanent capital rather than as a single searcher.
Considering ETA yourself?
We regularly speak with acquisition entrepreneurs — sometimes as partners, sometimes as employers.
Reach outA more detailed German version of this topic is available at /eta-deutschland.